Wednesday, December 5, 2018

The Trail to Francis Point
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "On a dry day,
Francis Point Provincial Park on BC’s Sunshine Coast provides a good
opportunity for boaters whose legs are itching for exercise – as ours
were this past summer, when we set out to walk there from our anchorage
in Gerrans Bay, about a mile away in Pender Harbour. The day was hot,
the skies were clear, and once we reached the shoreline portion of the
trail, the views across to Texada Island and north up Malaspina Strait
were glorious...."

This little seabird lives in tall trees that Washington state may cut down to support schools
Marbled murrelets have one of the more bizarre daily routines in the
avian world: They spend the day diving deep beneath coastal waters to
catch small fish. In the evening twilight, they fly home through the air
at 60 miles an hour, flapping hard — like potatoes with wings — to
reach their mossy nests in the tops of old trees, as much as 50 miles
inland. Before dawn, they make the same commute in reverse. This
dependence on big trees has them in trouble. The little seabird was put
on the federal threatened-species list a quarter century ago, but even
so, Murrelet numbers have fallen by about half in Washington since 2001.
Now Washington state officials are launching a long-term strategy to
keep a little bird with a long commute from going extinct. The
Washington Department of Natural Resources is taking public comment through Thursday, Dec. 6,
on its proposal to protect most of the threatened bird’s nesting
habitat on state land, but to allow 38,000 acres of those coastal
forests to be logged over the next 50 years. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Navy hoping to discourage pair of ospreys from nesting on Bremerton's mothballed ships
Bremerton's fleet of inactive mothballed Navy vessels has become the
nesting grounds of choice for a pair of ospreys, and the Navy is working
on a plan to encourage the birds to make their homes somewhere other
than at the top of the expensive federal property. The Navy hasn't
secured the funding required to construct the alternative nesting sites,
but officials have started the preliminary planning phase. The towers
will most likely be tall platforms constructed close to the mothball
fleet with a similar view and features the ospreys have become
accustomed to. Julianne Stanford reports. (Kitsap Sun)

‘To throw away these birds in this manner is disgusting,’ wildlife officer says
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recovered 50 dead ducks
and geese Friday from along a stretch of Weidkamp Road east of Lynden,
and the Whatcom County chapter of the Northwest Washington Waterfowl
Association has offered a $500 reward for information leading to the
conviction of those responsible. Wildlife officer Joshua Koontz told The Bellingham Herald
in an interview Tuesday that a bus driver reported seeing the carcasses
in the middle of the road near West Badger Road and in the roadside
ditch Friday, and Koontz went out and collected 50 birds that had been
dumped. Koontz said he spoke area residents who had not noticed the
rotting birds before that morning. David Rasbach reports. (Bellingham
Herald)

B.C. chief says one major oil spill could ruin her nation’s economy
Leaders from several north-coast B.C. First Nations say if the Senate
doesn’t approve a bill barring super-sized oil tankers from the region,
their thriving but fragile marine-based economies will die. The bill is
already a sore point between the federal government and Alberta.
Indigenous communities also disagree on the ban: nearly three dozen
First Nations are behind a $16-billion pipeline proposal that has no
future if supertankers can’t carry Fort McMurray oil away from the port
in Prince Rupert, B.C. Marilyn Slett, chief of the Heiltsuk Nation and
president of the Coastal First Nations alliance of nine B.C. bands, said
Tuesday that coastal B.C. nations have been speaking out against
tankers in their waters for decades. (Canadian Press) See also: The Warning of the Black Fish Tim Johnson writes. (Cascade Weekly)

Trudeau apologizes for First Nation consultation failures on Trans Mountain pipeline
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he didn't expect "unanimity" from
First Nations on the Trans Mountain pipeline project but apologized for
his government's failure on consultation after a speech to the Assembly
of First Nations on Tuesday. Trudeau took the podium at the annual AFN
December meeting in the wake of two recent major announcements by his
government on Indigenous issues — child welfare legislation and a reform
of the way Ottawa handles historic claims. In a rare move, Trudeau, who
has spoken to the AFN more times than any other prime minister, stayed
to take unscripted questions from the floor. (CBC)

Fishermen Sue Big Oil For Its Role In Climate Change
While oil companies built seawalls and elevated their oil rigs to
protect critical production infrastructure from the rising sea level,
they concealed from the public the knowledge that burning fossil fuels
could have catastrophic impacts on the biosphere. That's what citizens
and local governments across the United States are asserting in lawsuits
against oil, gas, and coal companies. Plaintiffs in the cases have
alleged that fossil fuel producers knowingly subjected the entire planet
and future generations to the dire consequences of their actions. On
Nov. 14, fishermen in California and Oregon joined the legal fray by
filing suit against 30 companies, mainly oil producers. Alastair Bland
reports. (NPR)

Plastic Oceans Plastic Bags State Kicks off Campaign for a Statewide Reusable Bag Bill
The campaign for a reusable statewide bag bill kicked off this month.
Environmental organizations and their legislative allies hope to build
off existing 23 local ordinances already in place in Washington and
introduce the bill in the 2019 legislative session. Proponents say there
are more than 86 million metric tons of plastic in our oceans with the
equivalent of five grocery bags of plastic trash for every foot of
coastline spilling into oceans annually. Martha Baskin reports. (PRX)

Field Studies Continue for Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is continuing field studies in
December 2018 as part of ongoing environmental and technical work for
the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) Project. Since 2011, the Port
Authority has been conducting field studies at Roberts Bank and the
surrounding areas that build on previous scientific work as well as
address existing information gaps. According to the Port, the purpose of
these studies is to determine the physical conditions (e.g.,
temperature and salinity) influencing biofilm presence and distribution
at Roberts Bank. The Roberts Bank study area is located in the upper and
mid intertidal zones north of the Roberts Bank causeway. The Roberts
Bank Terminal 2 Project is a proposed new three-berth marine container
terminal located at Roberts Bank in Delta, British Columbia,
approximately 35 km south of Vancouver. (Dredging Today)

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Salish Sea Communications provides communications and public relations services that raise visibility and engage audiences. Drawing on over 30 years experience in private, public and not-for-profit work, Mike Sato brings to you his skills and insights in developing and carrying out your print, electronic and social media projects and products. "I've been in the communications business since 1977 starting with community weekly newspapers then working for Seattle City Light, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Hawaiian Electric Company and, for 20 years, People For Puget Sound." Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told. WA State UBI #601395482